[Richard2]

I'm happy to report that today I set an ownership record with my 1973 Berlina...the windshield wipers, heater, speedometer and turn signals all work at the time. Please, please no applause )

I've had each working at some time. I've had 3 out of 4 working, but never in my ownership of the car have all 4 been working at the same time.

 

[Gubi]

You realize that the engine is going to explode tomorrow, right?

 

[Richard2]

I bought a spare on eBay this week for that occasion

 

[Damo105]

Ah I remember fondly the day ALL the electrics worked on my GTV. It was after I spent $1200 at the auto electrician. Everything worked brilliantly - for two weeks!

 

[super1750]

Yepp, them wipers are like a leaky roof, when its nice out they're as good as any wipers and when it rains its too wet to fix em!!
Bob

 

[Richard2]

Wipers are really easy to fix. When they don't work, gently push up on the wires on the left side of the fuse box. Presto...they work again

For a while, the key wouldn't shut off the car. I had to stall it out with the clutch, then disconnect the battery to get the fuel pump off :0

I'm hoping to eliminate a lot of electrical problems by installing a 12 fuse "Painless" fuse box (Painless Performance: Web Catalog) and putting in relays on a lot of things. When I moved the battery to the trunk, I put a relay on the fuel pump.

This won't solve them all. The last problem with the left turn signal was a dirty connector :;

 

[super1750]

Fuse Box Quick Fix

Hi Richard,

a quick way to solve bad contacts in the fuse box is to just bend the tabs that hold the fuses a little, so that the fuses fit a little tighter. I've had that problem with blinkers, headlights, wipers and what have you and that has always solved the problem. Cleaning the tabs where they contact the fuse with a little fine grained sandpaper or scotchbrite helps too. If it wasn't that it was almost always, as you said, a dirty connector or a bad ground.

regards
Bob

 

[rogerspeed]

From experience the rear defogger is only for limited use, on the highway the combination heater blower, wipers and rear window defogger will blow the fuse, not pretty in a downpour.

 

[Richard2]

The rear window defogger is on a factory relay, at least the '73 is. I haven't got the wiring diagram in front of me, but I'm guessing it's on a separate fuse from wipers and blower. If it isn't, mine is going to be!

I plan on putting the head lights, heater blower and wipers on relays so I can run them on the key circuit instead of a live circuit. I want the head lights to go off with the key. I'm thinking of running a separate "acc" circuit off a switch so I can run the radio with the key off.

I really want to get rid of the old style fuses and fuse box with some spade fuses. My problems are not so much the fuse holder, but the wire connections at the back. I'm sure the fuse box could be remove and connectors cleaned up, but I'd like some more modern circuitry also.

 

[101/105guy]

You will find that putting a little contact grease ( I use a product called Noalox ) on the fuse blades after you tighten them will keep the corrosion from coming back. Also great to use on blade connectors like the headlight sockets.
Randy

 

[Richard2]

I'm using electrical grease on everything I take apart. Probably a good project would be to locate all the connectors and grease them...one project at a time though. I already bought the Painless fuse box, so it's going in, along with a bunch of relays!